Ex-ICMR chief, others face arrest in land scam

Feb 18, 2013, 04.43AM ISTTNN[ Neeraj Chauhan & Durgesh Nandan Jha ]

NEW DELHI: Dr N K Ganguly, a top scientist and former director general of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), faces imminent arrest with a Ghaziabad court recently issuing summons against him in a two-year-old land scandal in which top brass of ICMR allegedly transferred a Rs 70 crore tract of prime government land in the name of a private group housing society by paying just a fraction of its market value.

The accused persons had approached Allahabad High Court in the past seeking anticipatory bail but the court refused to grant them relief. Among those investigated and chargesheeted by CBI include Ganguly, ex-director of the Institute of Cytology and Preventive Oncology (ICPO) Dr B C Das and several senior officials. The agency had registered an FIR in November 2010 in the matter.

When contacted, Ganguly told TOI on Sunday, "The matter is in court. I would not like to make a statement. There is nothing in that case. All procedures were followed."

A top CBI officer confirmed that the court has issued summons and the accused persons face arrest, as they have been avoiding the court for a long time.

The land was reportedly allotted to ICPO, an affiliate of ICMR, in March 1992 to build its staff quarters. The ICPO took possession of the plot after spending around Rs 2 crore. The institute, however, failed to start construction till March 2006, for which the penalty amount alone amounted to Rs 2.28 crore.

CBI found during investigations that Das had sent a letter to then ICMR senior DDG (administration) Mohinder Singh, enclosing a request by 51 employees to use the plot for their own group housing society. The staff were willing to pay over Rs 4 crore, the amount paid by the ICPO for the plot in 1992 and the penalty. Singh forwarded the proposal to P D Seth, who was at that time the ICMR's financial adviser, and Ganguly. The two reportedly approved the scheme.

"The accused persons used the land allotted to ICMR for their own benefit," a source said.

CBI had registered a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) against Ganguly, Seth, Das and others.